SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – Longitudinal data from a large national alcohol abuse survey suggests that the gender gap is narrowing with regard to drinking and driving: Women's rates of risky alcohol-related driving behaviors are actually increasing in some cases.
“The worldwide decline in alcohol-related traffic fatalities seems to have leveled off or reversed in recent years,” said S. Patricia Chou, Ph.D., at the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism.
A careful look at trends in drinking and driving patterns may help to explain why.
Some news was positive when Dr. Chou reported on data collected in 1991–1992 and then again in 2001–2002 as part of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a landmark, long-term survey of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Over the 10-year period, driving after drinking declined a remarkable 22%, from a prevalence of 3.7% down to 2.9% of the nationally representative sample of 43,093 people.
The decline was greatest (33%) among 18- to 29-year-olds.
Despite that trend, the number of Americans who drive after drinking is still high, “posing significant risks on America's roadways,” she said.
The data showed the behavior peaked among 22- and 23-year-olds in 2001–2002, with the prevalence rates of driving after drinking at those ages of 11.5% and 10.4%.
The study highlighted several potentially worrisome patterns over time.
More 21- and 23-year-old females were driving after drinking in 2001–2002 than they were in 1991–1992. Although the difference was not statistically significant, there was certainly no decline in this behavior among young women.
Drinking while actually driving also declined overall in the 10-year time period, but not among females aged 45–64 years, or among Hispanic females aged 18–29 years. These two groups posted significant increases in drinking while driving, according to the survey.
Drinking while driving was rare among young Hispanic females in 1991–1992, when the prevalence in that group was 0.5%. That rate rose to 2% in 2001–2002.
Overall, males in 2001–2002 still drank while driving at rates 2–3 times higher than females.
Among racial and ethnic groups, Dr. Chou reported that Native Americans had the highest rates of drinking while driving, followed by whites. Both groups had significantly higher rates of the risky behavior than did Hispanics, African Americans, or Asian Americans.
Other high-risk groups for drinking and driving included underage youths, males, and 18- to 29-year-olds.
Dr. Chou and her associates at the NIAA division of intramural clinical and biological research surveyed four drinking and driving behaviors: drinking while driving, driving after drinking, riding as a passenger in a car driven by a drinking driver, and riding as a passenger while drinking.